Portable infant&#39;s seat



Dec. 6, 1966 H. s. HOWARD 3,290,092

PORTABLE INFANTS SEAT Filed Jan. 20, 1966 United States Patent M 3,290,092 PORTABLE INFANTS SEAT Howard S. Howard, New Rochelle, N.Y., assignor to Howe Plastics and Chemical Co., Inc., New York, N .Y., a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 20, 1966, Ser. No. 521,781 4 Claims. (Cl. 297377) The present invention relates generally to a baby or infants seat, and more particularly to certain improvements for this product which greatly increases the portability and the convenience in handling of this product.

Current available models of seats for infants although not excessive in weight or :bulk are nevertheless not optimumly suited to be transported about, stored during non-use, or otherwise conveniently handled. These products are usually rigid, chair-type structures, and are particularly cumbersome to store during non-use.

Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the foregoing and other shortcomings of the prior art. Specifically, it is an object to provide a seat structure which is safe and suitable to use for an infant and which is convenient to store by virtue of being foldable into a compact, substantially flat condition.

Another object is to provide an infants seat fabricated of plastic and other economical materials of construction, and which further is so designed to lend itself to economical mass production techniques.

A portable infants seat demonstrating features of the present invention includes a body formed of at least one sheet of cardboard and of foam for padding, and having a cover thereabout formed by two plastic panels heat sealed together. This seat body is made in the -flat and, in this condition, is easy to store and otherwise handle. Additionally, the product is adapted to be folded into a three-dimensional condition in which it effectively functions as a seat which is safe to use for an nfant. Although the cardboard sheet of the body is divided into several sections which fold relative to each other to provide the flat and three-dimensional conditions of the product, such sheet is maintained as in integrated, single piece which greatly facilitates the handling thereof, particularly during placement for enclosure between the heat sealed plastic panels of the cover. This and other noteworthy attributes of the product permit the economical mass production thereof.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention, will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of a presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative embodiment in accordance with the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the portable infants seat hereof in the fiat, with portions thereof partially broken away to better illustrate features of construction thereof;

FIG. 2 is an exploded elevational view, in section taken on line 22of FIG. 1, showing the materials used in the fabrication of the product hereof;

FIG. 3 is a partial elevational view, in section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1, showing the elements of the product in their assembled condition;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the assembled product hereof in its setup, three-dimensional condition;

FIG. 5 is a partial elevational view, on an enlarged scale, in section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4 and best illustrating the manner in which the bottom and side panels of the product are connected to each other;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the product; and

FIG. 7 is a rear elevational view of the product.

Reference is now made to the drawings wherein there it effectively serves as a seat for an infant.

3,290,092 Patented Dec. 6, 1966 lCC is shown a portable infants seat, generally designated 10, demonstrating features of the present invention. The seat 10 has two significant conditions, namely the flat condition illustrated in FIG. 1 which is convenient for storing, transporting and otherwise handling the product, and the setup, three-dimensional condition of FIGS. 4, 6 and 7. When the seat 10 is in its three-dimensional condition preparatory to use, and is further combined with the metal stand 12 as is illustrated in FIG. 6, the seat 10 is easily made to assume an upright position in which As a safety precaution, the seat 10 may also include a front strap (not shown) to hold the baby within the confines thereof.

In accordance with the present invention, the seat 10 is fabricated of plastic as well as other economical materials of construction and further is designed in such a way as to readily lend itself to economical mass production techniques. The seat 10 includes a body, generally designated 14, comprised of a sheet of cardboard 16 and a sheet of foam 18, these two sheets being enclosed in a plastic cover formed by two plastic panels 20 and 22 heat sealed together. One area of heat sealing of the panels 20 and 22 is aboutthe periphery of the seat 10, as at the line of heat sealing 24 (see FIG. 4), and the remaining areas of heat sealing are provided internally of the seat 10 at three fold lines, herein individually and collectively designated 26. The major length portions of each of the fold lines 26 are actually formed by lines of heat sealing 26a while the remaining portions 26b of such fold lines are not effected during the heat sealing process.

As may be best appreciated by a comparison of FIGS. 1 and 4, the fold lines 26 of the seat 10 serve to delineate the body 14 thereof into various functional panels. That is, while both the cardboard 16 and foam 18 are convenient for handling by virtue of being embodied as a single sheet, these materials, particularly the cardboard, have separate functional sections. More particularly, the identically die-cut foam 18 and cardboard 16, and using the cardboard 16 as illustrative of this construction, includes a back-rest panel 28, a pair of generally triangular side panels 30, 32 attached along opposite sides thereof via the connecting sections 26b between the side panels and the back-rest panel 28, and a bottom panel 34 connected along the bottom edge of the back-rest panel 28 also by virtue of connecting sections 26b at opposite ends of this bottom edge. To facilitate the bending of the various panels 28, 30, 32 and 34 along the respective fold lines 26, the connecting sections 26b in the cardboard 16 are provided with score lines 36. Both the cardboard 16 and foam 18 in the remaining and major length portions of the fold lines 26 are provided with die-cut slots 38 therein through which the plastic panels 20 and 22 are urged into contact with each other during application of the internal lines of heat sealing 26a.

Continued use of the portable infants seat 10 hereof will naturally involve unfolding and folding of the product along the fold lines 26 which ultimately will result in detachment of the panels 30, 32, 34 from the main back-rest panel 28 at each of the connecting sections 26b therebetween, but at the time of detachment since these panels are effectively enclosed with the heat sealed plastic panels 20, 22 this detachment of the panels presents no problem.

Completing the construction of the portable infants seat 10 is appropriate cooperating connecting means carried on opposite ends of the bottom panel 34 and on each of the side panels 30 and 32 so that such panels may be connected to each other in the three-dimensional condition of the seat. In the preferred embodiment illustrated herein, the cooperating connecting means consists of a pair of laterally extending tabs 39 and 40 on the bottom panel 34 which are each accommodated in a slot 42 and 44 on each of the side panels 30 and 32, respectively. As is clearly illustrated in FIGS. 4-6, after each of the tabs 38 and 40 are respectively projected through the slots 42 and 44, this tab position is held by a connection of each of the tabs with one end of a pair of arms 46 and 48 of the support stand 12, as at 49. The opposite ends of the arms 46, 48 are connected to a U-shaped portion 50 of the stand 12 which is connected at its free end to strips 52 heat sealed to the rear plastic panel 20. As is best shown in FIG. 7, the base 54 of the bracket 50 is a cylindrical member preferably having an elastorneric gripping surface.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the invention herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable infants seat having a body fabricated of at least one superposed sheet of cardboard and of foam, each of said sheets being divided by fold lines into a back-rest panel, a pair of side panels attached along opposite sides of said back-rest panel, and a bottom panel attached along the bottom edge of said back-rest panel, said body having a cover thereabout formed by a pair of plastic panels heat sealed to each other along their respective peripheral edges and also along said fold lines of said body, each of said fold lines being formed throughout a majority of its length by aligned elongated slots provided in said sheets of cardboard and foam to provide access through said body for heat sealing said plastic panels 4 together, and the remaining portions of length of each fold line being defined by score lines provided in said cardboard sheet to facilitate the bending thereof along said fold line.

2. A portable infants seat as defined in claim 1 including cooperating connecting means on said bottom panel and on said side panels, respectively, and adapted to connect with each other when said panels are folded into a three-dimensional configuration to thereby hold said panels in this configuration for forming an infants seat thereof.

3. A portable infants seat as defined in claim 2 wherein laterally extending tabs are provided on opposite sides of said bottom panel, and each side panel has a slot along the bottom edge thereof for accommodating said tab therethrough in connecting said bottom and side panels together.

4. A portable infants seat as defined in claim 3 including a metal stand for said seat, said stand being connected at one end to said tabs after the same are projected through said side panels and thereby preventing inadvertent disengagement of said back and side panels from each other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,694,755 12/1928 Rentos 152.1 2,324,421 7/ 1943 Ouellette 297-310 3,101,972 8/1963 Laughlin 297377 3,171,687 3/1965 Laughlin 297377 3,206,247 9/ 1965 Johnson 297- 525 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

G. O. FINCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PORTABLE INFANT''S SEAT HAVING A BODY FABRICATED OF AT LEAST ONE SUPERPOSED SHEET OF CARDBOARD AND OF FOAM, EACH OF SAID SHEETS BEING DIVIDED BY FOLD LINES INTO A BACK-REST PANEL, A PAIR OF SIDE PANELS ATTACHED ALONG OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID BACK-REST PANEL, AND A BOTTOM PANEL ATTACHED ALONG THE BOTTOM EDGE OF SAID BACK-REST PANEL, SAID BODY HAVING A COVER THEREABOUT FORMED BY A PAIR OF PLASTIC PANELS HEAT SEALED TO EACH OTHER ALONG THEIR RESPECTIVE PERIPHERAL EDGES AND ALSO ALONG SAID FOLD LINES OF SAID BODY, EACH OF SAID FOLD LINES BEING FORMED THROUGHOUT A MAJORITY OF ITS LENGTH BY ALIGNED ELONGATED SLOTS PROVIDED IN SAID SHEETS OF CARDBOARD AND FOAM TO PROVIDE ACCESS THROUGH SAID BODY FOR HEAT SEALING SAID PLASTIC PANELS TOGETHER AND THE REMAINING PORTIONS LENGTH OF EACH 